Long Anticipation, Altered Expectations
by Caitiann
Summary: Beth and Rick one shot. I don't know about a summary. Beth is waiting for Rick to come home to the prison after a run. Good Enough? Some adult themes, but not graphic enough for the "M" I'd say.


**Just a quick BRICK one-shot, because I am determined to fill the world up with them apparently. Also, I'm just desperately missing Beth, and what I will affectionately refer to as "normal Rick." Title come from a little band called "The Trews", and their song "Tired of waiting" which would have made much more sense as a title, but hey, what are you going to do.**

 **I don't own The Walking Dead.**

Beth swallowed as her eyes again flitted back to the gate.

 _Stop it._ She mentally berated herself. Staring at the gate wasn't going to do anything.

At least she had an excuse. Maggie had gone too. It had been Maggie, Michonne, and Rick, and her father always kindly patted her back when he caught her tensely staring towards the gate. They had been gone four days, which wasn't wholly unexpected, but was still longer than she would have liked. Her father had always just smiled and said, _don't worry, she'll be back safe and sound._

But she wasn't waiting for Maggie. She was waiting for Rick.

It wasn't exactly something she was proud of. The dependence on the man she was sure was twice her age –more than, even- was something she couldn't have anticipated, and certainly didn't plan.

Beth had gone in to drop Judith off one night, and he had invited her in to just… chat. And chat they did. Beth didn't even realize how long they had just sat and joked with each other until she saw the sun starting to peak through the bars of the prison window.

It had quickly become a routine. Beth would drop Judith off at the end of the day, and disappear behind the curtain of Rick's cell for an hour or two. They never really talked about anything of substance. Just teased each other, occasionally told stories about their "before" life.

Beth's least favorite part also happened to be her favorite part. At some point, she would get up to leave, when exhaustion finally threatened to take her. He would stand with her, and wrap his arms tightly around her in an all-encompassing hug.

It was the one time Beth felt okay. She was always "okay," in the broadest sense of the word. She was protected behind the prison's walls, and there were no shortage of people around her to help keep her safe. But every moment, Beth's shoulders were tight with tension she didn't know she held. She was always on guard, always looking over her shoulder. Always had her knife ready at her hip for when the worst happened. Not if, but when. There was always going to be something- whether walkers or people, bad things were always right around the corner.

But with Rick, in that moment, she felt untouchable. It scared the hell out of her, because she knew it was false. She knew she was no safer with Rick's arms around her than she ever was, but the feeling was… intoxicating. Beth hadn't touched drugs a day in her life –hell, she'd never even seen them before- but based on what she'd heard she had to imagine it was similar to what she felt. It was a high that took her forever to come down from. And when it was gone, she spent more time than she was proud of thinking about her next fix.

So now Beth was in withdrawal. Four days had passed since she'd seen him, heard his laugh, and sighed into his embrace. She hated it. She also hated that she cared at all, but like a true addict, her shame took a back seat to her oppressing _need_.

She couldn't even talk to anyone about it, because as far as she could tell, no one knew. They hadn't really even tried to hide it, nor had they even actively agreed to keep their time together a secret. She supposed it was possible that Rick had even mentioned it to someone without her knowing. She doubted it; the reason she kept it to herself was for the very reason she suspected he did. She had no desire to deal with the questions, the accusations, the watchful eyes. She didn't even have the answer to the questions she knew she would be asked herself.

Was she attracted to Rick? Dear god yes. Who wouldn't be? But it wasn't really about that, although Beth had gone back to her cell more than once, and had translated the relief he gave her emotionally into something a little more physical. Even so, she largely suspected his kindness towards her had more to do with pity than any actual form of affection. Not that he'd said anything to that effect, but no other option made sense in her mind. She wasn't particularly pretty, or funny. Half the time she tripped over her words in front of him, coming across as a complete buffoon, she was sure. She wasn't even certain why he never begged out of their conversations, or why he wasted his time on her, when she felt like more than a glorified babysitter. All she knew was how grateful she felt for someone to finally _see_ her, so she never asked.

So now Beth was pretending to do something. She wasn't quite sure what. She had a spear they had fashioned to put down walkers at the fence, but she wasn't using it. She wasn't even at the fence, she was just holding it, in the middle of the compound, staring at the gate. She tried to will herself to move, to get something done, but her feet stayed rooted in place.

The rumble in the ground started and her eyes that had been working so diligently to avoid the gate now shot there with a veracity she didn't know they were capable of. She could see the pillars of dirt begin to rise, even though she couldn't see the cars yet.

 _He was home._

Beth knew she should have been excited, and on some level, she was. She was beyond happy that all of them were home safe. But her heart pounded in her chest fiercely. She tried to calm her breathing, but the lump in her throat was making it impossible. The cars finally appeared over the hill, and she heard Michonne's voice call out to open the gate. Some part of her was aware of Daryl racing over and pulling the gate open for them, but all her attention was on the car. They pulled in, and piled out quickly looking no worse for the wear. Maggie wrapped her arms tightly around Glenn, and Michonne was nodding and smiling to something Daryl was saying as his hand braced her shoulder.

Then there he was. He looked so beautiful to Beth. Weathered, certainly, but with the pain that comes when you put the entire world on your shoulders. He smiled as Carl ran up to him, and hugged his son tightly, even though the young teenager seemed unimpressed with the affection. Beth smiled, despite herself, at the love that radiated from Rick towards his son.

But then his eyes were up, and searching. They landed on her face, and a heat spread wildly throughout her body. He grinned happily at her, and waved. Her shaking hand rose and returned the gesture; though her anxiety refused to let her reciprocate the warmth he had shown. She watched as the group helped the returning members unload the supplies they had retrieved, and made their way inside the prison. Her legs felt like jello as she forced them to carry her inside after them.

The prison was dank, at best, and Beth missed the sunshine when she entered. Her eyes adjusted to the relative dark as she watched people sort through the supplies. She looked gingerly around, but noted Rick had disappeared already. She sighed to herself, cursing her shyness for the missed opportunity to be near him again, even if only for a moment.

She instead returned to her cell, her home, such as it was, determined to get a little sleep before she had to go help prepare dinner. The past several nights, in Rick's absence, she had tended to the teething Judith. She adored the girl, but her wails had meant four nights of restlessness.

"Hi."

Beth swallowed roughly at his voice behind her. She turned and forced her face to form a smile at him. "Hi. How did the run go?" She asked lamely, unsure of what to say, but eager to prolong the conversation.

He chuckled softly. "It was fine." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small keychain of a rainbow fish. "I saw it and thought of you." He shrugged.

Beth gently took the small token from him. Its blues and pinks glimmered even in the dim light of the prison. "You thought of me?" she breathed incredulously. She was surprised. He had things to do, she was shocked that she had ever so much as flitted through his mind.

Her surprise was heightened when he pulled her into his embrace. "Of course I did, Beth. I missed you." He breathed in her ear, and she sighed into his warmth. The anticipation that had turned her stomach into knots dissipated immediately. It was a confusing power he held over her; whenever she was with him she felt more herself than even when she was alone. Ever y fear and insecurity melted away in his presence.

Beth ran her fingers over the rough surface of the keychain, even as she felt his eyes burning into her.

"You like it?" he asked throatily, and Beth swallowed as she nodded her head.

"I love it." And she did. She had confided in Rick how much she missed the simple joy of swimming. Even though there were no shortage of 'watering holes' so to speak, there were things much more dangerous than leeches to watch out for now. She shuddered even now at the thought of a cold, rotting hand grabbing her ankle as she swam. It just wasn't a risk she could take. But she missed it desperately. The feel of being surrounded by water, and quiet, and the weightlessness that made her feel at home. She had blushed when she told him she sometimes thought she had been a fish in a past life.

And now she had her own personal fish.

She wasn't shocked that he remembered, he always had an exceptional memory. What kept her forehead wrinkled in confusion as she regarded the keychain was that he had even thought of her at all. The only time anyone thought of Beth Greene was when they needed something. Judith needed to be tended to. Dinner needed to be made. Pigs needed to be fed. Garden needed to be weeded. Apparently, the masses viewed Beth as the proverbial utility man of the baseball team, subbing her in whenever there was a hole to be filled. Not that she minded, she actually appreciated the work. Having something to do with her hands and being needed made the days go by quicker, and gave her less time to focus on how very sad she was sometimes.

So she was sure that this fish was just something that Rick grabbed. It meant nothing to him to grab it off of a shelf, but to her it was more than that. It proved she was human. It proved someone cared, that someone thought she was worth something, anything.

Beth wasn't ever really aware that she had grabbed Rick and was kissing him until after she'd already done it. She was shocked into awareness as his tongue flicked against her own. It had been nearly a year since Jimmy had died, and any worries of inexperience or awkwardness seemed to melt away in how very natural it felt. He pushed away all too soon.

"You know I didn't come here for this, right?" Rick asked her, holding her chin to force eye contact. Her eyes still fell to the ground and a blush spread across her as the reality of her actions set in on her. She nodded, finally realizing that maybe Rick actually just _liked_ her. He was kissing her back after all.

She vaguely registered him sighing in some form of relief before his mouth was on her again, and his hands desperately grasped the small of her back pulling her close. Beth's own fingers curled around the collar of his shirt as she gasped gently under his touch.

Rick's hands dipped down, sliding under the loose hem of her shirt. She squeaked at the skin to skin contact, but leaned into his touch. Rick's mouth pulled away from her own, and focused instead on the soft skin of her neck.

"Beth." He whispered, as her hands twisted into the soft curls of his hair. His ever growing beard, along with his lips, tickled her neck in the very best of ways, eliciting a soft moan from her. This was apparently a good thing, as Rick's grip on her hips tightened notably. He pressed his own hips into her, and Beth was surprised at how equally effected he had become by their affections.

The contact was incendiary. It lit a fire in Beth's stomach, a deep burn that only had one way to be quenched. Her hips moved into Rick's, and that was all the permission he needed. He spun Beth around in his grasp, his hands smoothing over the taught skin of her stomach. Beth reached back and pulled his head forward, and he pressed rough kisses into his shoulder.

His hands traveled downwards, not even bothering to unbutton the jeans that had long been too big for her. His fingers slid between her folds and Beth felt Rick shudder behind her. She would have had the grace to be embarrassed at just how wet she was for him, had his fingers not immediately begun their careful work.

Beth's focus immediately became a hard attempt to bite her tongue. Her cell was only separated from the group by a thin sheet, and she doubted that any passers-by would be amused by their extra-curricular activities. But with every twist, rub, and thrust of Rick's fingers, she was finding the task more and more difficult. Her hips instinctively bucked backwards into Rick's own, and she was making small, quiet noises that sounded unfamiliar even to her own ears.

The burn in her belly grew stronger, and spread throughout her whole body, making her entire body overheat. Her face scrunched in consternation, until Rick gently nipped her shoulder with his teeth.

"Come for me, baby."

And she did. A whirlwind inducing orgasm the likes of which she had never been able to produce on her own. It left her head spinning and her legs weak. Rick's hand slowly pulled out of her, and he grinned at her widely.

He silently pulled her towards the bed, and wrapped her up in his arms. "I really, really missed you." He sighed.

Beth said nothing, but a pervasive thought danced through her mind. _You have no idea._

 **Hope you guys enjoyed. If you're new to my work and like the pairing, I'd suggest checking out my profile, I have a few things on there, including a much longer fic in progress, "Burden and Bury."**

 **Thank you so much for reading, please leave a review and let me know what you thought!**


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